Gillo Pontecorvo (Pisa, 1919 - Roma, 2006)

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Gillo Pontecorvo (Pisa, 1919 - Roma, 2006) Gillo Pontecorvo (Pisa, 1919 - Roma, 2006) Il processo di formazione del giovane Pontecorvo è variamente articolato: pratica il tennis a livello professionistico, nutre una grande passione per la musica e vorrebbe diventare direttore d'orchestra; inizia a studiare chimica all'Università di Pisa, ma abbandona assai presto gli studi e non segue l'indirizzo scientifico dei fratelli. Nel 1938, anche a causa della stretta delle leggi razziali anti- ebraiche, si trasferisce a Parigi, dove frequenta una scuola di giornalismo, scrivendo poi per France Press e per alcune testate italiane. Ancora nella capitale francese, durante la Seconda guerra mondiale, nel 1941, si iscrive al Partito comunista, dal quale uscirà nel 1956, in seguito agli avvenimenti di Budapest, e dirige «Pattuglia», il giornale della gioventù socialista e comunista europea. Tornato in Italia, partecipa alla Resistenza con il nome di battaglia di Barnaba e dopo la Liberazione protrae la sua militanza politica. Il percorso autoriale cinematografico si snoda lungo quasi tre decenni, dall'inizio degli anni Cinquanta fino alle fine degli anni Settanta, dopodiché la sua attività cinematografica prosegue con l'assunzione di ruoli organizzativi molto rilevanti: così, per esempio, dal 1992 al 1996, dirige la Mostra del cinema di Venezia e, dal 1996 al 1999, è presidente dell'Ente Cinema nazionale. A lui si deve, tra l'altro, l'istituzione, nel 1986, del Premio Solinas, il più importante concorso per sceneggiature e soggetti cinematografici in Italia. Le prima prove cinematografiche risalgono al dopoguerra e agli anni Cinquanta, quando l'interesse per la fotografia e il cinema si concretizza nell'esperienza come aiuto-regista accanto a importanti cineasti (da Yves Allégret a Mario Monicelli) e, in particolare, a Joris Ivens, il grande documentarista olandese. I principali modelli nell'ambito cinematografico sono in questa fase il Rossellini della stagione neorealista e in particolare di Paisà (1946) e l'opera di Ejzenštein e Pudovkin. La pratica del documentario segna la prima parte della produzione filmica di Pontecorvo, perché è col documentario che prendono parola e si esercitano in quegli anni quei giovani autori italiani che si sentivano eredi legittimi del cinema neorealista. Questa produzione comprende opere di propaganda comunista e di rappresentazione del mondo dei lavoratori, da Missione Timiriazev (1953), che racconta l'arrivo degli aiuti sovietici ai contadini del Polesine dopo l'alluvione, a Pane e zolfo (1956), dedicato ai minatori delle solfatare marchigiane. Nel 1956 realizza il mediometraggio Giovanna , nell'ambito di un progetto collettivo internazionale coordinato dallo stesso Ivens e prodotto dall'azienda cinematografica statale della Germania est, in occasione del congresso dell'Internazionale delle donne democratiche, per raffigurare la condizione femminile nel mondo del lavoro. Giovanna segna l'inizio del cruciale sodalizio artistico con lo sceneggiatore Franco Solinas e racconta l'occupazione di una fabbrica tessile a Prato da parte delle operaie, contro il piano aziendale di licenziamenti. L'opera, nel panorama cinematografico italiano, costituisce una delle prime e più significative prese di contatto con i gesti e la realtà quotidiana del lavoro operaio. L'esordio nel lungometraggio di finzione avviene nel 1957, con La lunga strada azzurra , che narra la vita dei pescatori sardi e, sul piano ideologico, promuove il progetto di una loro organizzazione cooperativistica per sfuggire allo sfruttamento dei grossisti. Il film successivo, Kapò , del 1959, rappresenta, invece, la tragedia ebraica nei lager nazisti e la vicenda di una deportata che per sopravvivere diventa aguzzina delle proprie compagne di prigionia. In entrambi i casi, l'impiego del filtro narrativo melodrammatico, consente a queste opere di orientarsi verso un pubblico più ampio e popolare. Bisognerebbe parlare anche di un progetto non realizzato, Confino Fiat , il film che avrebbe dovuto rappresentare la dura lotta politico-sindacale negli anni della guerra fredda attraverso la storia di un reparto speciale della fabbrica automobilistica torinese nel quale, negli anni Cinquanta, venivano confinati i sindacalisti e gli operai considerati più pericolosi dalla direzione della fabbrica. La battaglia di Algeri , del 1966, film con il quale Pontecorvo ottiene il Leone d'oro alla Mostra cinematografica di Venezia, costituisce la sua opera più celebre e insieme più significativa. Realizzato grazie a una co-produzione italo-algerina, il film rievoca la resistenza e la lotta del Fronte di liberazione nazionale algerino e la sua temporanea repressione da parte dalle truppe francesi. Il discorso politico rivoluzionario si traduce in un racconto cinematografico particolarmente efficace, grazie alla ricerca di effetti di suspense e all'incalzante forza ritmico- narrativa, raggiunta con il fondamentale contributo della partitura sonora e musicale. Nelle opere successive , Pontecorvo seguita a porre al centro dei suoi interessi avvenimenti della storia recente e meno recente che si configurano come momenti di frattura violenta, trasferendo sempre altrove, nello spazio e nel tempo, il palcoscenico dell'utopia rivoluzionaria. Anche in virtù delle suggestioni terzomondiste degli scritti di Franz Fanon, letti attraverso le premesse di Jean-Paul Sartre, Pontecorvo e Solinas raccontano lo sviluppo di movimenti di opposizione che, a partire da una dimensione circoscritta, conducono al risveglio della coscienza collettiva. L'aspirazione rivoluzionaria, l'autodeterminazione nazionale, la battaglia per la libertà e diritti civili sono concepite in termini radicali, come momenti e strumenti della dialettica storica, e le strategie violente delle parti in causa sono sottoposte a un'analisi molto accurata. Sul piano formale ed espressivo, quello della sua maturità è un cinema asciutto e scabro, spesso orientato verso i modi del cosiddetto cinema-verità e del reportage , e tuttavia capace di esercitare un forte impatto emozionale sullo spettatore, attraverso l'apparato visivo e sonoro. Sul piano narrativo, la sua opera procede in bilico fra istanze epiche e pedagogiche, avventurose e didascaliche, mirando tuttavia a non ridurre la complessità dei conflitti, a non celarne contraddizioni e ambiguità. Queimada , del 1969, narra lo scontro tra colonizzatori e colonizzati nelle Antille del XIX secolo: alla figura dell'eroe nero, popolare e rivoluzionario, si contrappone quella dell'avventuriero inglese, interpretato da Marlon Brando, che parla come un sostenitore della rivoluzione ma si comporta infine come un neo-colonialista. Senza diminuire la passione ideologica delle opere precedenti, si configura un racconto epico che rappresenta la Storia in forma di spettacolo coinvolgente. Ogro , l'ultimo lungometraggio, del 1979, racconta, proprio mentre l'Italia sta vivendo la stagione degli Anni di piombo e del terrorismo politico, l'attentato in Spagna al generale franchista Carrero Blanco da parte dei separatisti baschi dell'Eta, nel dicembre del 1973; e lo fa esplorando il punto di vista dei quattro terroristi del commando, portatori di concezioni differenti dell'azione rivoluzionaria. Opera di tensione spettacolare ma anche di riflessione e di dibattito, si interroga sulle ragioni e la misura del terrorismo e della lotta armata. L'orizzonte ideale è venuto restringendosi, e il film sembra costituire una sorta di atto d'addio all'idea di rivoluzione coltivata per decenni. .
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